"... all patients in maternity hospitals and prenatal clinics in Astrakhan will be given small versions of the icon (of the Virgin Mary - CAP) for free.
"The initiative was organized by the Russian Orthodox Church and has provoked controversy, since 20 percent of the population of Astrakhan is Muslim, mainly ethnic Kazakhs and Tatars. "
This news comes as one of the Moscow Patriarchate's most high-profile and influential missionaries, Andrey Kurayev, criticizes the praising of tolerance and wonders aloud if Christians and Muslims are really compatible:
"We'd better stop praising tolerance and discuss if Christians and Muslims are compatible in the present-day world," he said in his interview to the Den za Dnyom Estonian weekly."
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"...Their tactics is clear: while they make a minority, they speak of secularism and equality, but as soon as Muslims make more than a half population, they will demand total control," the theologian believes"
